Thousand Yard Stare NME/Melody Maker Cuttings Page:
NME 27 June 1992
SINGLES
REVIEWED BY MARK SMITH, HOSTED BY DAVID QUANTICK
THOUSAND YARD STARE
Spindrift EP (Stifled Aardvark)
Slough and Iver combine in a neat reworking of 'Wideshire'. Shiny and a
possible hit. I like it.
MES: What's this? Sounds like my lads before I go and f___ing shake their
collar! Ha ha ha! Not bad at all.
Keg writes: "All material from the Melody Maker, October 12 1991.
Here's a review of a live TYS show.
Melody Maker October 12 1991
THOUSAND YARD STARE
THE FALCON, LONDON
Thousand Yard Stare have already supported Carter on tour, and they're about
to do the same for James. Polydor have snapped them up, and tonight the
audience response is so immediate and frenetic that Stephen Barnes'
mikestand is sent flying within two seconds of the opening chord.
Everything's going just fine for Slough's favourite sons. The question that
remains unanswered is - why?
It's only fair to mention that tonight's show is beset with problems beyond
the band's control. Bassist Sean McDonough is stricken with food poisoning,
and lasts for three numbers before staggering off. The remaining quartet
busk through one of their tranquil guitar instrumentals, and then a
replacement appears from the audience.
They stretch the few songs he knows
over as many minutes as possible, the very Blue Aeroplanes-ish "Strange" the
only real highlight, then finish way ahead of schedule.
But the understandable uncertainty in the rhythm section isn't the problem.
This teenage audience is here because TYS prove a pleasant, predictable
noise that they can throw themselves around to with no danger of exposure to
any of the emotional intensity they might get from braver bands. Sure,
there's a hint of anger in the words of say, "Twicetimes", but the
relentlessly light, breezy lead guitar and shuffling beats are all that
really register, not least because the Thousand Yard singer has a two-inch
voice sadly lacking in range or power. Presumably, though, it was this basic
blandness that got the majors interested. After all, they'd have reasoned,
if Bleurgh could get away with something similar...
The phrase Thousand Yard Stare was coined to describe the dazed, vacant look
frequently seen in the eyes of returning Vietnam vets. I'm probably wearing
a similar expression as I leave the overcrowded Camden Town hell-hole
tonight, but in my case it's induced not by trauma but by boredom.
DAVE JENNINGS
Keg writes:
And From the same issue at the interview (Melody Maker June 15 1991), I found
this rave record review:
SINGLES
Reviewed by the Stud Brothers
THOUSAND YARD STARE
KEEPSAKE EP (Stifled Aardvark)
Apparently there's a bit of a buzz about this band. People are saying
they're the next big thing. In fact we're reliably informed that the last
time they played the audience was made up exclusively of drunken hacks and
frenzied A&R men waving cheque-books in time to the beat. For what? For a
gang of C86 jangle-poppers so wimpy they make The Field Mice sound like Guns
N' Roses.
It's the A&R men we feel sorry for. Since none of them know anything about music, they have to rely on us - the journos. And what do we do? Get pissed and stagger round making outrageous and thoroughly irresponsible claims about bollocks like Thousand Yard Stare.
Brothers, we've got to get real. People's jobs are on the line here.
Edmund writes:
Looks like the press weren't exactly "always on side".
